The present invention relates to a clamp for mounting photographic equipment to a support, such as a tripod or ball head.
Photographic equipment may be mounted to a camera stand in a variety of ways. Some camera bodies, for example, have threaded sockets in their base so they can be directly mounted to a bolt that extends upwardly from the support. The camera body is positioned over the support so that the bolt fits within the socket and the camera body is spun around several times to screw the camera body to the support. Alternatively, and particularly when a heavy, elongate camera lens is attached to a camera body, the camera lens will include a support having a threaded socket positioned below the lens so that the lens may be mounted to the support in the same manner as a camera body.
These methods take an appreciable amount of time and require care to ensure that the threads of the stud are properly aligned with the threads in the socket. Further, there is often insufficient time to screw the camera body or lens to the tripod before a particular shot should be taken. This lack of time requires that the camera either be held in-hand, potentially resulting in image blur from the shake of the hand, or that the shot be missed altogether.
These difficulties can be reduced by using a quick-release clamp to mount photographic equipment to a support. Such quick-release clamps are typically designed to screw onto the bolt of the support while the photographic equipment is releasably secured to the upper surface of the clamp so that it can quickly be secured to, or released from, the support. To secure photographic equipment to such a quick-release clamp, the photographic equipment such as a camera body will typically include two parallel, opposed rails extending from its base. The opposed rails may be provided by the equipment or in the form of a plate secured to the equipment. The rails are spaced apart so that they fit within an upwardly facing channel defined by the clamp. The clamp includes a lever that moves between two positions to adjust the spacing between the side walls of the channel so that, when in a first, locking position, the channel grips the rails connected to the camera system and when in a second, released position, the channel disengages the rails so that the photographic equipment may be lifted from the clamp. In this manner, the lever may be used to quickly secure or release the photographic equipment from the support.
Unfortunately, existing quick-release clamps have certain disadvantages. In order to provide for relative movement of the side walls of the channel, one or more springs apply an outward force to the side walls, so that they move apart as the lever is moved to the second position. This outward force tends to likewise push the lever away from the first, locking position, thus loosening the fitting between the photographic equipment and the clamp. Further, as a result of usage over time, the lever and the clamp tend to loosen from one another, thereby widening the spacing of the channel walls in the locked position and thus loosening the fitting between the photographic equipment and the clamp when in the locked position.
Further, the lever in existing quick-release clamps is positioned solely on an outer lateral side of the clamp, underneath one side of the camera body. This position makes it awkward to reach underneath the camera to operate the lever. This problem is exacerbated with quick release clamps that use an adjustment screw to adjust the spacing between the side walls of the channel rather than a lever, as it is difficult to rotate the screw while the camera is mounted over it.
It is therefore desired to provide a clamp for easily, quickly, and securely mounting photographic equipment to a support.